Another set of pictures wilting in the archives were of my Fourth of July manicure. For the holiday, I took a last minute trip to the Smoky Mountains and Nantahala River for some countryside views and relaxation along with a bit of outdoor activities.

I wanted to rejuvinate the classic red, white, and blue palette with a little bit of shimmer and flakie firework action. The blue nails were Orly Royal Navy with two layers of China Glaze White Cap on top to serve as a play on the flag’s star field. The red accent nail was China Glaze Ruby Pumps with Barielle Elle’s Spell on top for depth and fire. I’m pretty sure I was rocking the high gloss Seche Vite top coat at this point in time as well.

Amusingly enough, the white cap polish had a deeper meaning as there were crests of swirling white on the river rapids…enough that they assisted in capsizing our small two person inflatable raft at the end of our river run. I took these pictures after the incident while recovering from the adrenaline rush with an icy cold red, white, and blue themed American beer. So the tipwear was probably a direct result of clawing at the upside-down raft that had flipped entirely on top of me while trying to assume a safe whitewater swimmers position to avoid getting bashed into rocks. Considering there was minimal tipwear, I’m giving the polish performance a good grade.

I can’t say that I have ever really considered myself much of a “country girl,” but I have been out there before and I have really enjoyed my time there because there’s just a unique soul to the surroundings that I can appreciate. This was outside of a quintessential river haunt, a shack called Pizza By the River which serves up some tasty pizza. Most importantly, it serves it up where you can literally sit and eat it on the river rocks and wade your feet in the stream if you’d like. They also have great little bonfires going in the evening as the river starts to kick up a thick mist on the surface. Sometimes there seems to be banjo music drifting down the river as well that just makes the whole environment come together.